Two PhD positions on data-driven assessment and mitigation of near-airport and global environmental footprint

Sustainability is one of the biggest challenges the aerospace industry is facing. This challenge has vast scales – from improving air quality and reducing aircraft noise annoyance locally for communities near ever expanding airports to understanding how cruise-level emissions alter the composition of the atmosphere at the global scale and influence the climate. As such, this challenge is interdisciplinary, bringing together multiple fields beyond aviation, like atmospheric science and remote sensing.

The two PhD topics aim to investigate the assessment and mitigation of the environmental impact caused by air transport. One PhD position will focus on the global effects, making use of global aircraft surveillance data, satellite remote sensing data, aircraft performance and emission models, atmospheric models, as well as flight plans and procedures. The other PhD position will focus on the local effects, making use of near-airport noise and air quality measurement data, regional aircraft surveillance data, and associated models. Both PhD research topics will contribute to improved assessment models and new flight strategies that mitigate air transport’s environmental footprint.